HTC Touch Diamond Cell Phone Review - Value & Comparisons

Value (4.0)
The Touch Diamond costs $249 online with a 2-year agreement. Sprint's site states that the regular price of the Touch Diamond is $549.99, for which you may be able to purchase it without signing a 2-year contract. As with most smartphones that can easily be data hogs, an unlimited data plan is strongly recommended, if not required in some instances, by carriers, so consider this extra cost as well.

Touchscreens are all the rage as manufacturers and carriers continue to try to one-up the iPhone. In terms of price and internal storage, the Touch Diamond from Sprint doesn't compare well with an 8GB iPhone 3G available for $199. The Touch Diamond isn't a fantastic multimedia phone, but the Windows Mobile platform is a strong one that is highly extensible and some users have built up a library of 3rd-party applications over time that they wish to continue using, so it will be a viable alternative for some. But without a full keyboard to make it a ubiquitous email master, it's hard to picture hardcore business users shelling out $249 for the slick Touch Diamond over a Blackberry or unlocked Nokia that can be used outside of the U.S. Beyond this, the Touch Diamond doesn't add up as a good value for most people much more than its predecessor did.

Comparisons

The Nokia E71 is a business user's dream with strong PIM and messaging capabilities, and a great camera too. It's also a GSM phone, which means it offers far more flexibility to the international traveler since it can roam on networks outside of the U.S., while the Sprint Touch Diamond really can't. On top of this, the Nokia E71 is sold unlocked, meaning that it can accept any SIM, enabling users to buy a local SIM card that will almost always offer far better rates than roaming rates through their normal carrier. It's quite pricey at $500, but the flexibility it offers and physical keyboard may be well worth it to some users over the Touch Diamond.

iPhone 3G - The iPhone 3G surprised us with its talk time battery life, particularly given the power-hungry nature of 3G radios and networks. While it does offer Exchange support, it also lacks a physical keyboard that may be a necessity to frequent emailers and texters, but it does have a far more responsive interface than the Touch Diamond, making typing on it a relative breeze. Its multimedia capabilities are among the best we've seen, though it does have its limitations without MMS, like the Touch Diamond, and no video recording. At $199 for the 8GB version that offers twice the internal storage than the Touch Diamond for less money, it may be a better value for some who aren't looking for a strictly-business oriented device and want an easy-to-use interface with easy access to literally thousands of 3rd-party apps available at the time of this review.

HTC Touch - The HTC Touch is still offered by Sprint for $99 with a 2-year contract. This may seem like a really good alternative to the Touch Diamond, except that it performed worse in our battery tests where the Touch Diamond already performed at the low end of the scale, and it has a lower-resolution camera and far less internal storage. As a CDMA phone, it still limits you to use within the U.S. only and virtually nowhere else if you travel abroad. The HTC Touch is only a good option over the Touch Diamond if you really want a touch-interface Windows Mobile device for as little money up front as possible.

Samsung Ace - The Samsung Ace is pretty unique in that it can run on both Sprint's CDMA network and GSM networks, so international travelers who need a Windows Mobile smartphone have a great alternative in the Samsung Ace. It does not have a touchscreen, so its QWERTY keyboard is the only means of text entry, compared to the Touch Diamond's touchscreen-only text entry methods. The Samsung's camera is well below the resolution of the Touch Diamond's 3.2-megapixel camera with 1.3 megapixels, and it performed only slightly better than the Touch Diamond in the call time battery test and was also held up at times by a slower interface. It's currently being offered for $99 through Sprint, so it could be an alternative option if a touchscreen is just not your thing and you need to travel internationally.

Blackberry Curve 8320 - Like the Nokia E71, the Blackberry Curve 8320 is an email master with its full QWERTY keyboard and push email capability. Blackberrys typically have excellent battery life, and the 8320 is no exception here. The Blackberry OS may not have the same level of extensibility as the Windows Mobile OS, but it's not far behind and still offers everything a business user could want or need to get work done on the go. Users looking for a true workhorse will be better off with the Blackberry Curve than the Touch Diamond, and it's currently offered through T-Mobile for $199.

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